Leonard Cohen Tribute Concert to be Held in Montreal

On Monday, November 6, the Centre Bell in Montreal, QC, will serve as the venue for what’s shaping up to be an incredible tribute to the life and work of Leonard Cohen. The iconic singer, songwriter and poet passed away on November 7, 2016 at the age of 82.

“My father left me with a list of instructions before he passed: ‘Put me in a pine box next to my mother and father. Have a small memorial for close friends and family in Los Angeles…and if you want a public event, do it in Montreal,’” commented Adam Cohen in an official statement regarding this gathering. “I see this concert as a fulfillment of my duties to my father that we gather in Montreal to ring the bells that still can ring.”

“Leonard Cohen is a literary and musical icon of word-craft,” added Hall Willner, the longtime concert producer who will oversee this tribute. “On the first anniversary of his passing, we will endeavor to present a tribute to an artist who is universally acknowledged as one of the great poets and songwriters of all time.”

Further musical performers, and actors who will recite some of Cohen’s poems, will be added to the lineup soon.

Tickets will go on sale Saturday, September 23 through Evenko.ca. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Canada Council for the Arts, the Council of Arts and Letters of Quebec and the Montreal Arts Council.

In the December 2016/January 2017 edition of Zoomer Magazine, media mogul and head of ZoomerMedia, Moses Znaimer, reflected on the talents and impact of his friend Leonard Cohen.

“For me, Leonard is unique because people like Sinatra and Elvis seemingly blasted onto the scene full-grown; Leonard ripened. If you listen to his early albums, his voice was very different. His great accomplishment was that he kept at it, got control of his voice, acquiring a later-life lower register that was authentic, commanding and different. He took the time, sometimes years, to find the right words. He wrote elegant, smart, meaningful lyrics and married them to deceptively haunting music that lingers in the mind and in the air, especially about that human thing that none of us can escape. He remained true to himself, and eventually the world swung back to the beauty and the profundity of his work.”